Father and Daughter
by writewithlove7
Summary: A series of one-shots revolving around Arnold Shortman and his daughter, Emmy.
1. Chapter 1

"Daddy?" A small, quiet voice asked in the semi-darkness.

Arnold heard the voice and felt a slight tug of his comforter. Waking up from the combined movement and sound, he saw that his three-year-old daughter, Emmy, was looking at him with sad eyes.

 _I'm surprised none of the boarders woke up, he thought to himself._ "Emmy?" Arnold asked sweetly, "Why are you out of bed sweetheart?"

"I had a bad dream."

Arnold knew all too well about the trials of bad dreams and toddlers. Laughing to himself, he asked "What was it about honey?"

Emmy looked down and said quietly, "Mommy."

At that moment, Arnold rose up out of the bed, and put his hands on his daughter's little shoulders. He didn't want to dare ask her what the dream was about, he knew it would have opened up a wound for himself and his daughter. "Honey, it's alright, it was just a dream. Mommy is with you wherever you go, she is here to protect you and love you."

Emmy closed her eyes and nodded, with a small pout formed on her mouth.

Arnold smiled at his daughter and said, "How about we get some sleep, okay?"

Emmy changed her expression, and said, "Okay Daddy." She got herself up on Arnold's bed, and cuddled closely to his left side. "I love you Daddy."

Arnold wrapped his arm around Emmy and looked down at her. He couldn't help but think to himself at how blessed he was that the love of his life and him were able to create a child together. "I love you too Emmy."

He then looked up at the ceiling and started to think about Emmy's dream. He knew this day would come eventually. His wife had passed away six months ago, two weeks before Emmy turned three. Although he was still grieving for his wife, he had to stay strong for their daughter, as she was aware of her mom's passing. He knew she would start asking questions about her mother, how her mother died and why it would happen to her, however, Arnold just wasn't sure if he was ready for that yet; he couldn't get over the fact that his wife was really gone.

Looking to see if Emmy was asleep, which she was, Arnold slowly turned over to face his nightstand, where a picture of him and his wife on their wedding day stood. He quietly picked it up, and thought while looking at the picture, _Helga, my love. I miss you and need you, I wish you were here right now._

He kissed the picture, placed it back on the nightstand, and fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Arnold couldn't do much but focus. It was his first day back to work in what seemed like ages, as he took off quite a few months to help Emmy adjust to her new life. He was looking at a file for one of his students, Carl, who was having a hard time adjusting to his parents' divorce. He just saw Carl and was supposed to do an intake, however, all he could do was just look at the piece of paper.

 _This must be really ironic,_ he thought to himself, _I am a guidance counselor who can't even get over his own grief._

Shaking his head, he mustered up the strength to complete the intake form and provided the right recommendations. "One visit a week will suffice. Will determine more necessary recommendations after four visits," Arnold mumbled to himself as he was writing the form out.

Just as he closed Carl's file up and placed it in his lock safe file cabinet, he realized school was out. _Time to pick up Emmy,_ he thought to himself. _Maybe we can make personal pizzas tonight, she might like that._

Sometimes, Arnold felt like his life was in a trance after Helga died. Then other times, he would be as happy and optimistic as he was before she passed away. This was one of these days where he felt like he could always look on the bright side, and nothing bad would ever happen to him.

When he finally got to the daycare, he walked in with the biggest smile on his face. When Emmy turned around and saw him, she had an odd expression on her face. _Wow, guess I'm never this way a lot if she's taking notice._

"Hi baby girl! Ready to head home?" Arnold said while grabbing Emmy's items out of her cubbie.

Emmy nodded. Arnold picked her up swiftly and headed towards his truck. After getting Emmy situated in her car seat, Arnold turned the key into the ignition and headed to the boarding house, where Arnold and Emmy lived.

They didn't always live in Arnold's childhood home, in fact, they didn't always live in Hillwood. The Shortmans lived in the next town over, in a small condo. However, once Helga passed, Arnold didn't want to live in the same house where his wife took her last breath, and the condo reminded him of how lonely he felt without her. Thus, Miles and Stella gave Arnold's old room back to Arnold, where him and Emmy lived.

When Arnold pulled into the driveway, he noticed that his dad was working in the garage. "Hey Dad!" Arnold said with a burst of optimism.

With a shocked expression, Miles turned around towards his son. "Oh, hi son! I uh, didn't recognize you there for a sec." Miles rubbed the back of his neck nervously, while looking down at the ground. "Everything okay?"

Arnold scrunched his nose and laughed. "I don't know, for the first time in a while, I just feel happy."

Miles knew all too well about Arnold's random mood swings since his wife died. "Uh uh, just be careful okay?" Miles said with concern.

Arnold shook his head and said, "Don't worry Dad, I will be. Actually," he said while grabbing Emmy out of the car, "Emmy and I are going to make homemade pizzas. Do you want to join us?"

Miles reached out for Emmy, and Arnold transferred her into his arms. "How's my favorite granddaughter doing?" He asked Emmy with a smile.

Emmy smiled, and said, "Good pop pop!"

Miles kissed her forehead and then responded to Arnold's question. "Wish I could, but Stella and I are going to be heading to that conference."

"Oh! that's okay."

Emmy looked at her dad and said, "More for us!"

Arnold smiled at her daughter and said, "That's true, Em."

Miles gave Emmy back to Arnold. Arnold placed her down on the ground and held her hand to walk her into the house.

Later that night, Arnold and Emmy started to make their homemade pizzas in the boarding house kitchen. All the boarders were up in their rooms, which was perfect for the space needed to teach Emmy how to make pizzas. "There you go, Emmy, just have to spread the sauce with a spoon, like what I'm doing here." Arnold said while demonstrating how to add sauce to the pizza dough.

Emmy looked up at Arnold and said, "Okay, Daddy." She awkwardly held the spoon of sauce and somehow managed to spill it all over herself. She looked up at Arnold and laughed. "Oops!"

Arnold started to laugh with her, and it was uncontrollable; they started to laugh together.

This was the first time in a very long time that Arnold and Emmy felt truly happy.


	3. Chapter 3

Arnold woke up from the sunlight peering from the tinted skylight. Eyes squinting, he asked himself, _what time is it?_ He turned to look across the room where his desk used to be, to see Emmy's small bed unattended. Just when he was about to search for her, he heard his mother, Stella, talking to Emmy downstairs. With a sigh of relief, Arnold laid back in bed, and began to close his eyes.

Despite wanting to greet Emmy good morning, he didn't want to get out of bed or do anything. All he wanted to do was sleep.

It hadn't happened for a while, although, like his mood swings, there were days where he was really productive, which was most days. However, there were other days where he felt numb; unfortunately, today was one of those days.

…...

Three hours later, Arnold was still in bed, except he was awake and staring at the ceiling, without a single thought in the world. Meanwhile, Stella was downstairs in the living room, coloring with Emmy. _It's been a while since he's been like this, I better go talk to him_ , she thought to herself. "Emmy, I am going to turn on the TV for you, I'll be right back," she said to her granddaughter.

Stella headed up the stairs and knocked on the door. "Honey? It's me, Mom." After a few minutes of silence, Stella opened up the door to see Arnold laying on his side, awake. _Well, it doesn't seem as bad as last time_ , she thought to herself.

She sat on the foot of the bed and put her hand on Arnold's shoulder. Quietly, she said, "Honey, are you alright?"

Arnold turned over to look at his mom. He had only felt this vulnerable one other time: the day Helga died. Clearing his throat, he said, "To be honest, not really. I can't feel anything, mentally. I just want to sleep and forget everything." Arnold started to choke up, and Stella wiped his tears for him.

"Sweetheart, I know this is hard. But, your daughter is down there and she is getting older and more observant. Helga is sadly not here anymore, but she isn't. I know you are doing your best to stay strong for Emmy. Have you thought about going to see Dr. Adams, and have Emmy go and see Dr. Bliss?"

Arnold didn't really think about going to see a psychiatrist, despite the fact that he was a guidance counselor. "You're right, Mom. I think it's time to go and see someone, it's just so hard because I miss her so much," Arnold said desperately.

Stella wrapped her hands around him and held him tight. "Helga was an amazing woman and a beautiful mother. You have to remember that she is always with you and Emmy; she loved you both immensely."

Holding back his tears, Arnold nodded at Stella's response. "I'm going to make a call in the morning, I'm tired of feeling like this."

Stella smiled sweetly at her son and said, "I'm glad, honey."

Shaking his head, Arnold said, "I gotta get out of this funk and go see my daughter. Thanks for taking care of her for a while, Mom."

Stella bowed her head down to signal "you're welcome", and got up.

Getting up out of bed, Arnold stretched his body and headed for the door with his mom. He ran down the stairs, picked up Emmy, and held her tight. "I love you so much sweetheart."

Closing her eyes, Emmy snuggled her head underneath Arnold's chin and said, "I love you too Daddy."


End file.
